Resource configuration for a bandwidth part for a wireless network

Abstract

According to an example embodiment, a method may include determining, by a user equipment in a wireless network, a starting physical resource block (PoinA) of a common physical resource block grid that is associated with a wideband channel, wherein a plurality of bandwidth parts are provided within the common physical resource block grid, each bandwidth part having a bandwidth that is less than the bandwidth of the wideband channel; determining, by the user equipment, a wideband channel guard band for the wideband channel, the wideband channel guard band provided between a lowest frequency of the wideband channel and a first usable physical resource block of the common physical resource block grid; and, determining, by the user equipment for at least one bandwidth part (BWPI) of the plurality of bandwidth parts, a bandwidth part-specific physical resource block grid that is a subset of the common physical resource block grid.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A method comprising:
 determining, by a user equipment in a wireless network, a starting physical resource block of a common physical resource block grid that is associated with a wideband channel, wherein a plurality of bandwidth parts are provided within the common physical resource block grid, each bandwidth part having a bandwidth that is less than the bandwidth of the wideband channel; 
 determining, by the user equipment, a wideband channel guard band for the wideband channel, the wideband channel guard band provided between a lowest frequency of the wideband channel and a first usable physical resource block of the common physical resource block grid; 
 determining, by the user equipment for at least one bandwidth part of the plurality of bandwidth parts, a bandwidth part-specific physical resource block grid that is a subset of the common physical resource block grid; and 
 wherein the plurality of bandwidth parts comprises: 
 at least a first temporal bandwidth part that is temporarily available for use by the user equipment for transmission or reception based on a positive clear channel assessment, performed by either the user equipment or a base station, for one or more sub-bands of the at least first temporal bandwidth part; and 
 at least a second bandwidth part that is unavailable for use by the user equipment for transmission or reception based on a negative clear channel assessment, performed by either the user equipment or the base station, for one or more sub-bands of the at least first temporal bandwidth part. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first usable physical resource block of the common physical resource block grid is a frequency offset or carrier offset from the starting physical resource block of the common physical resource block grid. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the starting physical resource block of a common physical resource block grid is determined based on an absolute frequency or a relative frequency that is known by the user equipment or received in a message or signal by the user equipment from a base station. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determining, by the user equipment, a wideband channel guard band for the wideband channel comprises:
 receiving, by the user equipment from a base station, information indicating the wideband channel guard band provided between the lowest frequency of the wideband channel and the first usable physical resource block of the common physical resource block grid. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determining, by the user equipment for at least one bandwidth part of the plurality of bandwidth parts, a bandwidth part-specific physical resource block grid comprises:
 determining at least a lower edge or a lowest-frequency physical resource block of the bandwidth part-specific physical resource block grid for the at least one bandwidth part. 
 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5 , wherein the determining at least a lower edge or a lowest-frequency physical resource block of the bandwidth part-specific physical resource block grid for the at least one bandwidth part comprises:
 determining a first full physical resource block of the common physical resource block grid that fulfills a minimum guard band requirement for the at least one bandwidth part. 
 
     
     
       7. An apparatus comprising:
 at least one processor; and 
 at least one memory including computer program code; 
 the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: 
 determine, by a user equipment in a wireless network, a starting physical resource block of a common physical resource block grid that is associated with a wideband channel, wherein a plurality of bandwidth parts is provided within the common physical resource block grid, each bandwidth part having a bandwidth that is less than the bandwidth of the wideband channel; 
 determine, by the user equipment, a wideband channel guard band for the wideband channel, the wideband channel guard band provided between a lowest frequency of the wideband channel and a first usable physical resource block of the common physical resource block grid; and 
 determine, by the user equipment for at least one bandwidth part of the plurality of bandwidth parts, a bandwidth part-specific physical resource block grid that is a subset of the common physical resource block grid; 
 wherein the plurality of bandwidth parts comprises: 
 at least a first temporal bandwidth part that is temporarily available for use by the user equipment for transmission or reception based on a positive clear channel assessment, performed by either the user equipment or a base station, for one or more sub-bands of the at least first temporal bandwidth part; and 
 at least a second bandwidth part that is unavailable for use by the user equipment for transmission or reception based on a negative clear channel assessment, performed by either the user equipment or the base station, for one or more sub-bands of the at least first temporal bandwidth part. 
 
     
     
       8. The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the first usable physical resource block of the common physical resource block grid is a frequency offset or carrier offset from the starting physical resource block of the common physical resource block grid. 
     
     
       9. The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the starting physical resource block of a common physical resource block grid is determined based on an absolute frequency or a relative frequency that is known by the user equipment or received in a message or signal by the user equipment from a base station. 
     
     
       10. The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the plurality of bandwidth parts comprises:
 at least a first temporal bandwidth part that is temporarily available for use by the user equipment based on a downlink transmission, detected by the user equipment, on the at least first temporal bandwidth part; and 
 at least a second bandwidth part that is unavailable for use by the user equipment based on an absence of a downlink transmission on one or more sub-bands of the at least first temporal bandwidth part. 
 
     
     
       11. The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the user equipment is configured to receive control information from a base station indicating one or more configured bandwidth parts that may be used by the user equipment, wherein each bandwidth part includes one or more sub-channels, wherein the user equipment is further configured to perform the following:
 perform a clear channel assessment on one or more sub-channels of one or more of the configured bandwidth parts; and 
 select a temporal bandwidth part that is temporarily available for use, of the one or more configured bandwidth parts, based on a positive result of the clear channel assessment of all of one or sub-channels of the selected temporal bandwidth part. 
 
     
     
       12. The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein:
 the wideband channel comprises a plurality of 20 MHz sub-bands; 
 the apparatus further configured to: 
 perform, by the user equipment, a clear channel assessment on sub-band(s) of one or more of the bandwidth parts before transmitting via the bandwidth part, wherein the clear channel assessment is performed per sub-band. 
 
     
     
       13. The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein causing the apparatus to determine, by the user equipment for at least one bandwidth part of the plurality of bandwidth parts, a bandwidth part-specific physical resource block grid comprises the apparatus to:
 determine, by the UE, the bandwidth part-specific physical resource block grid for the at least one bandwidth part, for a current channel occupancy time; and 
 wherein the at least one bandwidth part contains a subset of sub-bands defined by the wideband channel, wherein the at least one bandwidth part is used, by the user equipment, for reception of data or control information during the current channel occupancy time. 
 
     
     
       14. The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein causing the apparatus to determine, by the user equipment, a wideband channel guard band for the wideband channel comprises causing the apparatus to:
 receive, by the user equipment from a base station, information indicating the wideband channel guard band provided between the lowest frequency of the wideband channel and the first usable physical resource block of the common physical resource block grid. 
 
     
     
       15. The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein causing the apparatus to determine, by the user equipment for at least one bandwidth part of the plurality of bandwidth parts, a bandwidth part-specific physical resource block grid comprises causing the apparatus to:
 determine at least a lower edge or a lowest-frequency physical resource block of the bandwidth part-specific physical resource block grid for the at least one bandwidth part. 
 
     
     
       16. The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein causing the apparatus to determine at least a lower edge or a lowest-frequency physical resource block of the bandwidth part-specific physical resource block grid for the at least one bandwidth part comprises causing the apparatus to:
 determine a first full physical resource block of the common physical resource block grid that fulfills a minimum guard band requirement for the at least one bandwidth part. 
 
     
     
       17. The apparatus of  claim 7 , further causing the apparatus to:
 determine, by the user equipment, a minimum guard band requirement for the at least one bandwidth part based on a subcarrier spacing and the bandwidth of the at least bandwidth part.